There's nothing quite like growing it yourself. But many apartment dwellers, or city workers with long hours, have no chance to get their hands dirty.

Now, a pop-up garden scheme atop a city car park offers this carrot: a spot of spare-time gardening and fresh vegies to take home.

Federation Square's car park roof is becoming home to Pop Up Patch - 176 garden beds, with 140 available for lease. The rest will be used by the square's businesses - restaurant staff growing vegetables to pick and serve and the like.

There are 176 garden beds, with 140 available for lease.

The scheme is the brainchild of advertising executive turned nurseryman Fabian Capomolla and his business partner, Mat Pember, a landscape gardener. Three years ago they started The Little Veggie Patch Co, which specialises in installing vegetable gardens from backyards to tiny balconies, and a year ago launched their St Kilda East nursery selling edible plants.

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''We were in discussions with them [Federation Square] about putting in some vegie gardens for their tenants, their restaurants, who were looking to grow some food for themselves,'' Mr Capomolla says.

''We saw the space and thought that would make a great place to put a garden, not just for the tenants - for the public.

The incentives include a spot of spare-time gardening and fresh vegies to take home.

''It's about education and getting more people to give it a go. And it's about encouraging people to come to Fed Square and have a look.''

The move is the latest in a trend towards using city rooftops for gardens or to set up beehives (that is happening at Federation Square too, but on a different rooftop).

While some chefs have established gardens to service their restaurants, most gardens in the city, such as atop the Council House in Little Collins Street, are for the environment and enjoyment, not for eating.

"It's about education and getting more people to give it a go".

However, Mirvac's Yarra Point apartment building, being built on the Yarra's south bank, will include community gardens for residents, to be run by the owners corporation.

The Federation Square garden beds, each made from 1.2-metre-square recycled fruit bins, with a base, are being set up at the car park's Jolimont end. The gardens will be organic - no pesticides, fungicides or herbicides - and they will be surrounded by a high fence to deter those fancying free spuds.

''You will always get a few people who steal things,'' Mr Capomolla says. ''It's the same issue at the nursery; you put as many deterrents in as possible, but you hope most people respect it.''

Those who subscribe get more than just the no-dig garden crate, plus void fillers topped with straw, compost manure, worm castings and a top layer of potting mix and aged compost so they can plant straight away.

Subscribers also get The Little Veggie Patch Co's book, seeds and seedlings and discounts at the shop the pair are setting up in their display area. Gardeners - and they can be singles, couples, families, clubs, groups of friends - will be able to come and go between 6am and 10pm each day and staff will be on site daily during working hours to help. ''We walk them through what they need to do for the 12 months,'' Mr Capomolla says.

And yes, although the marketing material describes it as ''an edible gardening club'', the gardeners can grow what they like - flowers included. ''There's nothing wrong with flowers, it's good to have some diversity,'' Mr Capomolla says.

All this comes at a price: $1300 a year, in fact. Forty-two subscriptions have been taken so far, most by apartment dwellers; the project opened in mid-October.

But while Mr Capomolla concedes there has been some criticism of the price, he says that's just $3.50 a day. It can be paid monthly, as with a gym membership, and is a ''limited and exclusive'' opportunity in the city centre. ''If you had to lease that space for any other thing you would pay through the nose.

''It has to be sustainable [which means] that it does not require any government funding. It is not a community garden; we like to call it a garden membership.''

Mr Capomolla, who has parlayed his hobby into a successful business, says that with Federation Square having 9 million visitors a year, his ''urban farmers'' are going to be exercising their green thumbs in one of Melbourne's most accessible gardens.

Sharing ideas and passing on a love of growing healthy food to children will be part of it. A bonus is that the heat of the concrete creates an ideal microclimate and everything grows quickly.

To emphasise this project is not just one for the birds, he says: ''Yes, there will definitely be a scarecrow.''

11 comments so far

That price is a bit steep, but I can see that he will have some costs and I'm sure the council/Fed Square will be taking a cut.

Great idea though and should be more of it!

Commenter

Green Fingers

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

November 10, 2012, 3:10PM

They will have to grow a tonne of vines to cover that mess called Fed Square, can it be bulldozed and some lawn put in place?

Commenter

Pickled Herring

Location

Frankston

Date and time

November 13, 2012, 8:48AM

The Little Veggie patch Co. is a business I assume and not a 'not for profit'? The $1,300 seems very steep when you can buy an apple crate for $35 and fill it for another $80. These guys must be making quite a profit. The people who are able to afford their 'patch' must be doing it for fun rather than for the veggies themselves; otherwise it doesn't make economical sense. What I would prefer to see are more communal gardens for people who can't afford fresh food.

Commenter

C Sterrett

Location

Warrandyte

Date and time

November 13, 2012, 8:29AM

Considering it is the Little Veggie patch Co that is promoting the idea to Fed Square and getting their buy-in, frankly they deserve a cut for making it happen in the first place. Considering land is expensive (and the Fed Square car park would be prime real-estate - consider what they are loosing in parking fees), cost of water, maintenance/management of the garden area plus the cost of setting up the garden itself...the subscription cost is probably more than worth it for people who live in the city. I would think the main driver not fun (that would make it an expensive hobby) but actually for the veggies themselves and the ability to be in control of the food you eat (ie. feel good factor). You can buy at a market but you don't quite get the same level of satisfaction. Personally if I lived in that area I would fork out that cash, it saves waiting in line for one of the local community gardens (which can take a while).If you prefer to see more communal gardens I hope you’re contacting your council to make it happen.

I think the motivation is more than just "fun" and in fact for the vegetables.

That said, with a veggie crate you're getting a cubic metre of stuff "… no-dig garden crate… plus void fillers topped with straw, compost manure, worm castings and a top layer of potting mix and aged compost... book, seeds and seedlings and discounts at the shop.." Then there's staff on site, assume water is included, 7 day access, and all culminating with some yummy home grown healthy produce.

Imagine it would be a pretty hot site in summer and tough to sustain, but vegetation will at least help reduce urban heat island probs. Need to consider yield or amount of veggies you're likely to get from 12 months of veggie growing in a 1.2m2 area, obviously well worth considering how to maximise that. But that's not all it's about, as they have pointed out, "it's about education and getting more people to give it a go"…"sharing ideas and passing on a love of growing healthy food to children will be part of it". Like the ad on TV says, these things are priceless.

It's a great opportunity to create community, all the very best with it. And all said, I'd still rather tend veggies than go to the gym.

Commenter

Meant to be

Location

Doing other stuff

Date and time

November 13, 2012, 3:07PM

Can a person in a wheelchair get there and move around in the area, or is it inaccessible like most of the rest of Fed Square?

Commenter

HiLo

Location

Date and time

November 14, 2012, 3:30AM

I am sick of all the PR for "Little Vegie Patch" - they are very clever business men- sadly its stories like this - $1300 a year to grow a box of vegies that put many people off having a go at growing their own. If you live in a small urban space - go to the website of Urban Bush Carpenters (they can demonstrate how to build a vegie box from pallet timber practically for free!). We built planters from some hardwood taken out of an internal wall of someone's renovators dream (and left on a nature strip with a take for free sign). My total bill for this years summer plantings has been $10. (most of my plants grown from seed- its easy- cut open the tomato/ chilli/ pumpkin/ capsicum take out the seeds dry them on a piece of paper towel on the window sill- when they are dry store in an old envelope- plant the next year). Have a worm farm and make your own fertilizer. Its not hard - nor expensive.

Commenter

Thrifty

Location

Date and time

November 14, 2012, 7:16AM

There is absolutely no mention at all in the article of where the cars will go... or have they already gone?

CBD car parks are as much if not more investment properties than transport facilities. City developers are building car parks for their buildings and then selling the spaces by the hour to a minority of shoppers who drive to the city while the majority of office workers upstairs catch the train or cycle to work.

So what has happened to the car occupancy rates and return on investment at Fed Square car park? Could this be why these veggie plots are priced at $1300 pa? (after all this is the property section of the paper is it not?)

Commenter

Sam

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

November 14, 2012, 11:32AM

One day it will not quite be compulsory to grow food locally but necessary. Every roof top in Australia should capture life giving sun for plants and insects like in this article or electricity generation. When you calculate the cost don't forget to remove transport and carbon emissions saved by growing food where it is eaten within walking distance.